Conspire

Conspire in MKM

Was conspire ever considered for MKM?

Not seriously.

Conspire Murders at Karlov Manor

Conspire Mechanic Revision

If you made Conspire (the mechanic) today, do you think it would still have the color restriction?

Shadowmoor had a strong “color matters” theme, so it was needed there. Could we redo it without the color requirement? I’m not sure. It might require adjusting some costing.

Colors Conspire Mechanics Shadowmoor

Conspire Mechanic Fix

Do you think Conspire could be fixed if it was erratad like hideaway to have a variable number of creatures needed for any given card w/ it?

No. The number of creatures wasn’t the core issue.

Conspire Creatures Hideaway Mechanics

Conspire Mechanic Future

Hey Mark, what's more likely: Conspire returning to a premier set, or a new version of Conspire without the colour restriction?

The latter.

Colors Conspire Mechanics Premier Sets

Conspire's Future

Where is Conspire on the Storm Scale?

I’d call it an 8, but I can see us more likely to do a tweak of it that’s a little easier to use.

Conspire Storm Scale

Conspire Mechanic Future

Hi MaRo? What are the chances that Conspire will return? Where is it in the Storm Scale? How popular was it? Can it return in a Conspiracy set?

It wasn’t very popular, but in the right circumstance, I could see it return. I’d call it a 6.

Conspiracy Conspire Keyword Abilities Mark Rosewater Storm Scale

Storm Scale and Birthday

Its my birthday today :). Do you mind me asking a question and a trivia? If not: Question: If storm is a 10 on the storm scale, why is aetherflux reservoir, which is essentially a storm card allowed? And Trivia: Any trivia on my favourite commander, wort the raidmother?

There’s a big difference between doing something on one card and doing it on enough cards to use a keyword. Wort, including the whole conspire mechanic, was created during Shadowmoor development. Happy Birthday!

Aetherflux Reservoir Birthday Commander Conspire Keyword Abilities Keywords Mechanics Shadowmoor Storm Scale

Conspire Mechanic Feedback

How was the conspire mechanic from shadowmoor received? Where does it sit on the storm scale?

Poorly. It’s probably a 7.

Conspire Keyword Abilities Mechanics Shadowmoor Storm Scale

Conspire Mechanic Omission

Was the Conspire mechanic ever suggested for either of the Conspiracy sets? It almost feels like a flavour fail to not have it

One of Conspiracy’s goals was to do mechanics that specifically spoke to either drafting or multiplayer play.

Commander Conspiracy Conspire Flavor Mechanics

Suggesting Conspire

So I'm allowed to suggest that Conspire would make a good Dimir mechanic?

Yes.

Conspire Dimir (U/B) Mechanics

Forgettable Mechanic

Conspire comes to mind as a particularly forgettable mechanic.

Are there mechanics that are the opposite of splashy?

Conspire Mechanics

Keyword vs Ability Word

How do you decide whether a mechanic like Raid or Conspire wants to be a keyword or an ability word?

If the mechanic can be written out without needing a vocabulary word it’s an ability word. The trick to identifying an ability word is if you remove it from the rules text, the card still makes sense.

Ability Words Conspire Keywords Mechanics Raid Rules

Conspire Keyword Trivia

For no particular reason, got any trivia on the conspire keyword?

It was added in development and was the only mechanic in Shadowmoor not made by the design team. Interestingly, it was also the mechanic that scored the lowest in market research.

Birthday Conspire Keywords Mechanics Shadowmoor

Favorite Mechanics Shared

What's your favorite mechanic from Lorwyn-Shadowmoor Block? Mine is Conspire.

Persist or wither.

Conspire Lorwyn Mark's Favorites Mechanics Persist Shadowmoor Wither

Keyword Density Challenge

Considering that since NWO the number of new keywords per block have been 6 (Alara), 7 (Zendikar), 6 (Scars), 5 (Innistrad), how does having 10 new keywords in two sets not violate simplicity at common? I recall in your Lorwyn state of design you said Conspire et al didn't have the time to "breathe" and so you guys have been cutting back on the numbers of keywords (which I've liked) so how does this sudden jump in number not squeeze space & complicate common?

Every new set provides challenges. Yes, ten keywords in the block is a challenge for New World Order, but it isn’t an impossibility, just a challenge. One I believe we met.

Conspire Innistrad Keywords Lorwyn Zendikar

Unseen Mechanics

How many mechanics do you have on the shelf that you want to work in one day but that we haven't seen yet (eg. the mysterious "E" mechanic that got cut from Mirrodin, the "Chain" mechanic that got cut from Scars, and the unnamed colour matters mechanic that got cut from Shadowmoor in favour of conspire)?

In the last seventeen years, I’ve collected quite a few. A number of them I haven’t figured out yet how to execute them.

Colors Conspire Mechanics Mirrodin Shadowmoor

Coldsnap Mechanic Future

As far as I can tell Coldsnap is viewed as somewhat of a failure around the Magic community. Are either of the mechanics designed specifically for Coldsnap (Ripple and Recover) something R&D feels have a possibility of reuse in the future, or do they fall into the same category as mechanics like Clash and Conspire that probably won't be used again?

Coldsnap and its mechanics all tested very poorly. As I just said below, I never say never, but I am not expecting their return any time soon.

Clash Coldsnap Conspire Game Design Mechanics Recover Ripple